Bush nominee’s civil rights record comes under fire
2007 05 15
Bush nominee’s civil rights record comes under fire
By Ana Radelat
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Retired judge Leslie Southwick, left, speaks with Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss., before both testified at a hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee on “Judicial Nominations” today at the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington. Southwick is up for a position as United States Circuit Judge for the Fifth Circuit.
Leslie Southwick’s nomination to a federal court seat ran into potential trouble today from congressional Democrats disturbed by his record on civil rights and gay rights.
Southwick, a retired Mississippi Court of Appeals judge, is President Bush’s choice for a seat on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
At a confirmation hearing today, Democratic members of the Senate Judiciary Committee focused on some of the decisions Southwick made during his dozen years on the state bench.
In one ruling, Southwick voted to uphold a decision giving custody of an 8-year-old girl to her father instead of to her bisexual mother. He also joined other judges in a written decision that referred to the mother’s “homosexual lifestyle.”
Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, a Democrat from Rhode Island who presided over today’s hearing, said the phrase “is highly associated with a particular point of view that is not favorable to gay rights.”
Southwick, who at times seemed surprised by the line of questioning, said he followed Mississippi law. In 2001, when the case was active, state law considered homosexuality a moral issue that could influence custody decisions.
“It was the stated policy ... regarding homosexuality,” Southwick said.
Southwick is the third candidate from Mississippi chosen by President Bush to fill an opening on the 5th Circuit, a New Orleans-based court that hears cases from Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas.
Democrats blocked retired Mississippi Judge Charles Pickering from filling the seat, forcing Bush to give Pickering a special one-year appointment to the court. They also rejected the candidacy of Jackson attorney Mike Wallace, a former aide to Sen. Trent Lott, R-Miss.
Over the last few days, a number of civil rights and gay rights groups have come out in opposition to Southwick’s nomination, including the Mississippi NAACP.
But it’s unclear if the groups’ concerns will persuade Democrats on the Judiciary Committee to vote against the nomination.
The clock is ticking on judicial nominees. The presidential election will take place in November 2008 and few nominees are confirmed in a presidential election year, according to Senate tradition.
Several Democrats on the Judiciary Committee also focused on another case that came before Southwick in Mississippi — the case of a white social worker who used a racial slur in referring to her black co-worker.
Southwick joined in a majority opinion deciding use of the slur was insufficient grounds to fire the woman.
“To me, that’s a pretty shocking bit of analysis,” said Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis.
Southwick admitted he has changed his mind about the reasoning behind the decision — that the slur was intended to describe the black worker as a “teacher’s pet” and was not overly offensive.
“That does not now seem convincing to me,” Southwick said.
Southwick was introduced to the committee by Sens. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., and Lott. They vigorously defended the nominee.
Cochran praised his “honesty and integrity” and his “pleasing personality.” And Lott called Southwick “one of the most outstanding people I’ve known in my life.”
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Bush’s 5th Circuit pick faces Senate scrutiny today
2007 05 15
Bush’s 5th Circuit pick faces Senate scrutiny today
By Ana Radelat
Clarion-Ledger Washington Bureau
WASHINGTON — Leslie Southwick, President Bush’s latest choice to fill a seat on the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, is likely to face tough questioning - and perhaps Democratic opposition - at his confirmation hearing today.
That would be in line with the experience of two previous candidates for the seat, Judge Charles Pickering and Jackson lawyer Mike Wallace. Neither was confirmed, but Pickering got a one-year appointment to the job. That appointment expired in December 2004.
Some of the same groups that opposed the nominations of Pickering and Wallace to the New Orleans-based appellate court are questioning Southwick’s rulings on the Mississippi Court of Appeals, where he served nearly a dozen years before retiring last year.
The groups have asked Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, and Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, the top Republican on the panel, to halt the nomination.
“A preliminary review of Judge Southwick’s record raises serious concerns about his record on civil rights,” People for the American Way and the Human Rights Campaign wrote in a joint letter to the committee.
The Alliance for Justice, a national association of environmental, civil rights, mental health, women’s, children’s and consumer advocacy organizations, as well as the Mississippi NAACP have criticized Southwick.
“We must conclude the administration is determined to place a person hostile to civil rights in the Mississippi seat,” said Derek Johnson, president of the Mississippi NAACP.
More than a dozen judges on the 5th Circuit hear cases from Mississippi, Texas and Louisiana. Three of those judgeships are considered Mississippi seats.
On Wednesday, Johnson sent a letter urging the Judiciary Committee to reject Southwick’s nomination. But it’s unclear whether the concerns of the Mississippi NAACP and the other groups will sway committee members.
No panel member raised questions about Southwick’s record at his nomination hearing for a federal district court seat last year.
Southwick, 57, could not be reached for comment. Judicial nominees usually are cautioned by the White House to limit their public comments.
Southwick will be championed by Republican Sen. Thad Cochran at today’s hearing. Cochran and fellow Mississippi Republican Sen. Trent Lott recommended Southwick for the lifetime job.
“The senator wholeheartedly supports the nomination of Judge Southwick,” Cochran press secretary Margaret McPhillips said.
The judge, a member of the National Guard who volunteered to serve in Iraq, received a unanimous “well qualified’ rating from the American Bar Association.
He has issued more than 7,000 opinions. Criticism of his appellate court nomination focuses on several cases.
One is Southwick’s 1998 decision to join the majority in a 5-4 ruling upholding reinstatement of a white social worker who had been fired for using a racial slur in referring to an African-American co-worker. The ruling was unanimously reversed by the Mississippi Supreme Court.
Southwick also has come under fire for his role in upholding a chancery judge’s ruling that took an 8-year-old girl from her mother, who is bisexual, and awarded custody to the father.
Critics have attacked Southwick for joining the majority and for writing a concurrent opinion that People for the American Way and the Human Rights Campaign in their letter to the Judiciary Committee called “gratuitously anti-gay.”
The groups note no black Mississippian has ever been nominated to the 5th Circuit.
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